Cough Syrup
by One Fine Wire
Summary: "Life's too short to even care at all."


**Cough Syrup**

_Life's too short to even care at all_  
_I'm losing my mind, losing my mind, losing control_  
_These fishes in the sea they're staring at me_  
_A wet world aches for a beat of a drum_

_If I could find a way to see this straight_  
_I'd run away t__o some fortune that I should have found by now_  
_I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down_

_Life's too short to even care at all_  
_I'm coming up now, coming up now, out of the blue_  
_These zombies in the park they're looking for my heart_  
_A dark world aches for a splash of the sun_

_If I could find a way to see this straight_  
_I'd run away t__o some fortune that I should have found by now_

_And so I run now to the things they said could restore me_  
_Restore life the way it should be_  
_I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down_

_Life's too short to even care at all_  
_I'm losing my mind, losing my mind, losing control_

_If I could find a way to see this straight_  
_I'd run away t__o some fortune that I should have found by now_

_So I run now to the things they said could restore me_  
_Restore life the way it should be_  
_I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down_

_One more spoon of cough syrup now  
_

~Young The Giant, "Cough Syrup"~

* * *

Sid Gifaldi rubbed the edge of his nose and sighed. In addition to his itching nostrils, he felt exhausted from the plane ride over earlier that day and just wanted to relax at the hotel. He couldn't tell Nadine that, though. She'd been looking forward to seeing him and was in her element at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery's annual Day of the Dead celebration.

It was an annual event where people came together in honoring their dead loved ones. Nadine would receive extra credit in her Spanish class for attending and turning in a one page write-up to her professor. She didn't need the additional points to boost her grade in the class, though. She was fluent in Spanish and spoke the language without flaw. The young woman could also read, write, and understand it perfectly. There was no hint of an accent when the language rolled effortlessly off Nadine's tongue and people were often floored upon learning that she hailed from a city just outside of Brooklyn.

Nadine radiated happiness at the festival and genuinely wanted to be at it. She became fascinated with Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries during her freshman year of high school. The young woman immersed herself in their cultures, histories, and the language akin to falling down a Spanish themed rabbit hole and refusing to come out until she absorbed everything.

They walked past numerous shrines and altars decorated with bright, colorful flowers, lit candles, religious icons, photographs of the deceased, and plates of their favorite foods. The memorial displays lined the sidewalk like memories never to be forgotten, vibrant and impressionable to the eye but conveying a deeper meaning. This was heavily manifest in the political tributes on display, which honored the numerous Latino casualties in the Iraqi war.

What would be more painful? Dying on impact and barely feeling anything? Or surviving a war and still finding yourself succumbing to a slow, but sure, and rather painful death?

What if the war was still being fought?

And it caused you discomfort nonetheless?

Sid tensed at the thought of death and watched as patrons dressed in the vibrant fashions from Mexico strolled by him and Nadine. They donned sombreros, dyed black hair pinned back with exotic flowers, and sugar skull face make-up.

He didn't understand why people wanted to walk around looking like skeletons. Then again, he didn't need the face paint to fit the part. The young man looked enough like one without it. The looks people gave him, ranging from pity to disgust, concern to fear, were more than obvious to him.

Sid knew all too well how other people perceived him. The young man knew better than _anyone _– Nadine included – that he wasn't the same person he was just months ago. Sid changed drastically in a short time frame, but it didn't make a difference to Nadine.

He faced his girlfriend and smiled as she held his hand, mesmerized by all she saw before her gaze whilst taking in the sights, sounds, and smells at the celebration.

Nadine truly was beautiful. Sid didn't feel that way because he was dating her. He felt that way because it was the purest form of truth.

She stood out endlessly in a wave of people who looked, acted, and breathed in exactly the same way. She was physically beautiful and people couldn't deny it no matter the circumstance.

The young woman had wavy locks of thick blonde hair that fell to her mid back and radiant green eyes that turned up at the corners when she laughed. Her skin was tan and gorgeous year round with burgundy lips and contrasting bright teeth always turned into an upward smile. Nadine was athletic and had the body to prove it. She ran varsity cross-country and her top events on the track team were hurdles and the high jump. The young woman also steered clear of most junk foods and sodas simply because she didn't like the taste.

However, it wasn't beauty that drew people to her. It was the way Nadine danced to her favorite song on the radio, swaying her body and arms without a care in the world. It laid in the warmth of her smile and the way her emerald eyes lit up when she laughed. It came from her natural curiosity, the quiet yet passionate way she lived her life, and the compassion she bestowed upon others.

When their classmates grew scared of the insects that snuck into the classroom, she set them free when no one else would. She passed out water cups at 5K races, participated in neighborhood cleanups, volunteered for the annual Earth Club fundraiser, racked up community service hours at the library, and was Hillwood's most trusted pet sitter before starting college at UCLA. Nadine lived her life fully and vicariously, never missing out on a single moment.

The young woman also stood by Sid during the darkest moment of his life and the painful, heart wrenching days that followed.

She stood by him even when he asked to let her go.

He did it for her own good, but the notion only offended her.

Sid dropped the subject after Nadine refused to leave him. The young man thought he was doing the right thing under the circumstances. Yet his girlfriend determined that her university studies, living on two separate coasts, and his state would not come between them.

Although the whole world seemed against them being together, Nadine traveled to California and began her studies at UCLA. She balanced her studies in Ecology and Spanish with endless amounts of homework, new friendships, weekly Skype dates with Sid, and doing all she could in making sure he was doing okay.

The young man kept his brown-eyed gaze on Nadine, watching as the skirt of her strapless red ruffled dress swayed with every step she took. The young woman's painted nails matched and contrasted nicely against her warm complexion. She held his practically emaciated hand tightly inside her own strong one and squeezed it gently, letting Sid know that she would always be there for him. Nadine also wore teal ankle boots and gold earrings, making Sid wonder how he could've _ever _contemplated letting her go in the first place.

She noticed him staring at her and asked, "Why are you staring at me like that? Do I have something on my face?"

"No," Sid answered. "I just like looking at you."

His girlfriend was so down to earth that she didn't _know_ how beautiful she was, both inside and out. Most women with her beauty flaunted their looks every chance they got, but Nadine wasn't like that. The young woman didn't have a judgmental, prejudiced bone in her body and Sid was so grateful for that fact.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but what about _you?_" she asked whilst looking him over. "You're tired and probably bored here too. I have _more _than enough information for that page long write-up if you want to leave and head over to the hotel. We can order in and _carry on from there _if you're up for it."

"I like the sound of that," Sid said with a grin. "But you like being here, too. I can slog through this if you want to stay longer."

"That's nice of you, but I won't want to stay here if _you _don't. I _know _you, Sid and it looks like you'd rather be _anywhere_ but here _regardless_ of what's happening to you."

"Well, that _does _play a pretty big role," the young man admitted. "But there's still a lot for you to see, isn't there? What about all the vendors?"

"Sid, those vendors sell artwork and photographs that I can't afford on a college student salary, cheap instruments that cost a dollar and don't even work, craft kits I could make at home with better materials, and costumes I would never _ever _wear." She turned towards one of the food vendors and remarked, "I _am _thirsty, though, and the drinks here are probably _way _cheaper than the ones on the food service menu back at the hotel. I can grab you a Jarritos soda if you want."

The young man shook his head as the differing aromas of authentic Mexican cuisine hung in the air and made him feel sick.

"You haven't had anything to eat or drink since your flight over here," Nadine told him worriedly. "Maybe we should get something in you now instead of waiting."

"No," he responded. "I had some water and a packet of crackers on the plane. I used up three barf bags afterwards. If I eat _now, _I'll throw up. I'll probably barf again once we get back to the hotel anyway… but if _you _want something, I won't hold it against you."

He took out his wallet and held out a five-dollar-bill for Nadine.

Instead of taking the money, she folded it back into the palm of hand and said, "I got this."

She kissed him on the forehead and went to stand in line.

While Nadine waited as an old woman with wrinkled, leathery skin stood behind the counter and took orders, Sid sat down on the bench adjacent from where she stood. He set the oxygen tank that became like his extra limb to the side and squeezed the edge of his nose once more. It was a frequent habit that started when the initial radiotherapy sessions proved futile. As a result, the young man not only had to wheel a cylinder of oxygen around, but it was connected to the cannula he had to wear with it. The breathing tubes comprised of two large prongs inside his nostrils that itched horribly, wrapped behind his ears, and split at the neck. It helped him breathe because his lungs and air passages sucked at doing their jobs.

The young man watched as Nadine ordered a bottled water in precise Spanish. The words rolled off her tongue faultlessly and Sid felt so grateful once more that she was his.

When they reunited at the airport earlier that day, Sid finally felt at home again despite everything.

Holding Nadine in his arms again was worth all the loopholes he jumped through to reach her once more.

**XOXOXO**

Sid had to pull a lot of strings with his parents, oncologist, and the shrink they made him see on a weekly basis since his diagnosis before they let him make the flight from New York to California.

His oncologist was a hard-nosed woman named Doctor Bradshaw who had a bad red haired dye job and wore knockoff Dior glasses. She was hesitant to let Sid out of her sight, having only just started him on chemotherapy when the earlier treatments couldn't get rid of the Stage II Lung Cancer hell bent on killing him.

She finally relented only after he agreed to an aggressive inpatient chemotherapy session that lasted fourteen days. The woman was determined to make up for lost time while Sid was in Los Angeles visiting Nadine. He typically spent just two days in the hospital every other week receiving treatment since starting chemotherapy so his body could recover after each session and adjust to the new medicine.

The two-week session Sid underwent left him throwing up after leaving the hospital. He spent the entire night before he left for California sleeping on the cold bathroom floor with his flushed face pressed against the chilled surface tile. He was also ravenous, but couldn't keep any food down. Just when the young man thought he finally could on the way over, he vomited it up.

The new chemotherapy treatments had yet to make Sid better, but he hadn't gotten any worse, either. The young man's body remained in a stage of stagnancy since then in regards to his health. However, that didn't stop the chemotherapy from eating away at his body, making him throw up, or having him lose his hair.

His once long black tresses began falling out after his fifth chemotherapy session. It started slowly, with him waking up to a few strands on his pillow every morning, but escalated as his treatments became more intense. Sid became accustomed to wearing a hat early on so people wouldn't ask questions or stare endlessly at him as he kept losing his hair.

He took off his black beanie and ran a hand over his head and felt the uneven mixture of bald spots, peach fuzz, thinning hair, and the few places where it was still thick.

The young man then noticed a toddler girl in a baby blue dress with white blossoms in her hair staring at him. Have gave her a small smile, but she ran off with a pained grimace on her face and a fearful look in her eyes.

She was scared of him.

Sid sighed sadly and put his hat back on. He became used to this since the cancer began taking a toll on his body, but it didn't hurt any less. The young man knew better than anyone else that he looked like the walking dead with his pallid, nearly see-through skin as his cheek and collarbones jutted outward and threatened to tear it apart. His limbs were refugee skinny and dotted with large black and blue bruises from the chemotherapy. Sid's smallest pair of skinny jeans were baggy on him and he couldn't even hold them up with a belt due to all the weight loss.

Nadine didn't care, though. She didn't care that Sid was dying and falling apart at the seams like a breakable doll whose threads were coming undone slowly but surely. She stood by him through it all and refused to leave his side.

Sid once again thanked whatever deity that existed out there for her presence in his life, even if it was destined to be a short one.

**XOXOXO**

Sid was a shadow of himself, but it wasn't long ago that he was healthy, physically fit, and ready to take on the world. He had been dating Nadine since their freshman year of high school and planned on attending San Diego State University at the time of his diagnosis. The young man hadn't chosen a major and was unsure of the path he planned on pursuing, but liked the idea of living _somewhat _close to Nadine and visiting her on weekends. She helped him get his life back on track after the middle school train wreck and never ceased being his guiding light.

She was the one who scheduled a doctor's appointment for him after noticing his persistent fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty swallowing, chest pain, continuous cough, repeated cases of bronchitis, and a fever that nearly sent him to the emergency room.

Sid went into see Doctor Stieglitz after Nadine booked his appointment and figured that he would be prescribed antibiotics and told to stay in bed for a week. Although the elderly man was concerned over his seven-pound weight loss (that the young man hadn't even noticed) at the beginning, the initial examination went well.

It wasn't until he began coughing up blood afterwards that the practitioner panicked. He booked an appointment for Sid to see an oncologist at the hospital almost immediately by pulling a few strings with the staff.

Sid didn't understand what was going on or why Doctor Stieglitz was so concerned. Since his parents couldn't get off work, he called Nadine and asked her to meet him in the hospital lobby. When he told his girlfriend what happened, her skin paled and she looked afraid.

"Nadine, what's wrong?" Sid demanded. He grabbed her shoulders and said, "There's no reason to be scared. If _you're _like this, then _I'm_ just going to freak out too. I – I'm sure everything's fine."

"Sid, you're about to see an _oncologist_," she told him.

"I know," he said whilst lifting his hands off her shoulders. "I'm seeing someone named Doctor Bradshaw. An oncologist is just another name for a doctor… isn't it?"

"No, it's not," the young woman responded as her hardened gaze pierced his soul. "An oncologist specializes in _cancer, _Sid."

He froze as his girlfriend's words weighed heavily upon him.

"_Shit!" _he nearly shouted. _"Fucking __**shit! **__This can't be happening to me right now!" _

The young man fell to his knees and held his head in his hands. He shook visibly, scared of what was to come, but too frightened to cry.

Nadine knelt down and wrapped her arms around him whilst whispering assurances into his ear. She held his chin in her hands, kissed him on the cheek, and stated, _"We'll get through this __**together, **__Sid." _

Sid nodded as she helped him up and they headed up to the oncology floor together. Nadine sat in the waiting room as the young man had his blood drawn, went in for numerous chest x-rays, and a coagulopathy panel.

When the results came back, Doctor Bradshaw led the couple straight into her office and told Sid, "We'll be seeing _a lot_ of each other, Mr. Gifaldi."

"What do you mean?" he queried.

"You have Stage II Lung Cancer," she answered bluntly. "It carries only a forty percent survival rate, so we'll have to start you on treatment right away. Additionally, your records indicate that your insurance coverage comes from your mother's employer. You'll need to do some research regarding treatment options that will best comply with your insurance plan."

She left the room and gave the couple a few moments to digest what they just heard. They sat there for a few moments, their hands clasped tight in each other's hold. Sid and Nadine didn't look at each other, knowing that they would fall apart once their eyes met each other's.

After what felt like an eternity, Sid finally broke down. Nadine hugged him close to her and rubbed his back, not knowing what to say, but realizing all the same that they had to move forward. Doctor Bradshaw returned a few moments later, called Sid's parents, and requested that they meet her and their son in her office.

The young woman made her exit when they arrived. They wore confused looks upon their faces and she didn't have the heart to witness the inevitable agony that would soon consume them. Sid knew this, but still didn't want her to go. He couldn't fault her for leaving though, especially when she stood by his side in the crazy, complex aftermath of his diagnosis.

The cancer came towards the end of his senior year. Nadine stood by Sid as he told everyone about it, deferred his college education indefinitely, and spent the summer with him. Sid spent those hot, sticky days in the hospital during his inpatient treatments, relaxing at the City Lake with his arms wrapped around Nadine as they lay on the grass and looked at the clouds, and watching old _National Geographic _documentaries at her house. They argued briefly when Sid wanted to break up with her and Nadine rebuffed his claims over wanting to "set her free."

When he said those words to her, she glared at him and said, "That's _bullshit _and you _know_ it."

"I just don't want you _resenting_ me," he yawned with exasperation. They were in her room lying in bed together under the covers as a nature documentary about the life cycle of caterpillars played in the background. The young man had only a few days left before going back to the hospital for another radiotherapy session and was _dreading_ it. The treatments weren't working at all and the cancer actually _spread _even though Doctor Bradshaw increased the radiation dosage.

He breathed deeply and said, "You shouldn't be putting your life on hold for me. You're going to live a long and good life and should be seeking that out."

"I'm still going to," Nadine told him somewhat defensively. "I'm _not _putting my life on hold either, but that doesn't mean I have to leave_ you_ behind. We'll still talk on the phone, send e-mails, have weekly Skype dates, and we'll see each other during breaks and whenever your doctor permits it."

"If you say so," Sid told her jokingly, trying to keep the mood light despite the seriousness of the situation. "Seriously though – "

"What?" Nadine inquired. "I could _never _resent you, Sid."

**XOXOXO**

Sid missed Nadine while she was gone and he was kept apart from her.

He missed the smell of her body wash and the lotion she used. She smelled like a tantalizing mixture of warm bonfires, firewood, the organic, dewy scent of nature in the spring, and her favorite perfume. He missed the way Nadine twirled her hair around her fingers and the cherry nail polish she used to decorate them. He missed his girlfriend's enthusiasm for life, her preferred wintergreen breath mints, her tendency to run towards the sun, and the way she kissed him.

Sid didn't do much of anything after Nadine left for UCLA. He was either in the hospital during his treatments or in bed because the cancer often left him exhausted and barely able to move. His friends Stinky and Harold were around during the summer, but they too left once September rolled around. Stinky went back to his home state of Arkansas and Harold enrolled at Hillwood Community College with the intent of getting a business degree. In addition, he also held down a full-time job at Green Meats and hoped to take over the butcher shop when the current owner retired. Harold still saw Sid whenever he could, but his visits were sporadic at best.

The only _real _human interactions Sid shared with people consisted of his parents checking on him each morning before they left for work, during their lunch break, and in the evenings when they came home (which they only did to ensure that he hadn't _died _while they were gone), Doctors Bradshaw and Stieglitz, and the nurses who watched over him during his hospital stays.

His mother and father became concerned when they realized that their son only left his room to shower, eat, throw up what little food he just consumed, and use the bathroom. They sent him to see both practitioners, who felt that he exhibited symptoms of Depression. He was then referred to a psychiatrist named Doctor Novak. He was an outgoing man in his mid-fifties who oozed fake sincerity and had a phony smile plastered on his face. It was beyond Sid's understanding how the man never lost his license to practice medicine, because he clearly didn't have a fucking clue pertaining to his patients' struggles.

The obnoxious man prescribed Sid antidepressants and figured that they would solve all his problems.

They didn't.

However, his parents and oncologist insisted that he have weekly sessions with Doctor Novak for the sake of him getting out of the house and having more human interaction. They also insisted that he continue taking the antidepressants prescribed to him.

No one understood that Depression wasn't a side effect of cancer.

It was a side effect of _dying._

Oddly enough, Sid's old classmate Helga Pataki visited him in the hospital when his parents and Harold couldn't. She was one of the very few people who stayed behind in Hillwood after high school graduation, biding her time as she attended community college with Harold, worked at her father's beeper store, and waited for Arnold Shortman to return and call her his own.

The young man didn't understand why she would stop her life for Arnold. It wasn't until she pointed out how Nadine got mad at Sid for trying to break up with her that he finally understood.

Nadine loved Sid despite everything. She didn't care that he was dying of lung cancer, getting sicker by the minute, and dealing with a Depression induced from having his life ripped away from him. She was willing to look past that no matter what the outcome of Sid's illness was. Nadine stood by him in health, and also in sickness.

He couldn't hold that against her.

**XOXOXO**

Nadine approached Sid after making her purchase. He looked down and turned away from her, his face flushed in embarrassment.

The young woman set down her bottle of water and sat next to him. She wrapped her arms around him and asked, "What's wrong, Sid?"

"I look like I have male pattern baldness," he responded, trying to keep his tone of voice lighthearted. He took off his cap and showed Nadine his messy hair and the bald spots that dotted his head unevenly. "A little kid got scared of me and ran off, but I'm used to it. I do that to a lot of people nowadays."

"Little kids don't understand yet, Sid," Nadine remarked. She ran a hand through her boyfriend's scarce hair and kissed him on the forehead. "The other people are just ignorant and you shouldn't care about what they think." She looked at him again and added, "_Something else _is bothering you, though. I can tell."

"Well, I'm fucking _dying _and I'm at a festival that commemorates _dead people,_" the young man said. "That's pretty weird if you think about it… I mean, I don't mind being here because I know you love this kind of stuff, but coming to terms with my own mortality is kind of freaking me out here."

"I think it freaks _everybody_ out, Sid."

"I'm just _trying_ to understand _why_ this happened, you know?" he said. "Life is already so _short _as it is and I'm trying to figure out why I even care when we're _all _going to die anyway. I mean… I'm better at it than most people are, but you know what I mean… don't you?"

"Not really," Nadine admitted.

"I just wish we could go back to the way things were and _restore _life the way it _should be _– before I got sick, us not being so far apart… maybe this is retribution for me being a brat when I was younger, I don't know."

"Hey, we were _all _brats when we were kids."

"_You _weren't."

"I think you might be right about that," Nadine laughed. She kissed her boyfriend's cheek and said, "You know, celebrating the Day of the Dead isn't about _celebrating _death of _glorifying _it. It's about _remembering _those we love and _never _forgetting about them. I _love _you, Sid… and I'm going to remember you no matter _what _happens. You just have to _trust _me… and you have to trust _yourself, _too."

"That I'll get better?"

"I… I don't know."

The couple remained seated on the bench holding hands. A quiet tension filled the air between them as the celebration continued. After a few moments, Sid sighed, turned toward his girlfriend, and said, "I'm not getting any better, you know. The chemo hasn't done anything."

"_Yet." _

"I can't even _breathe _on my own, Nadine. I'm pretty sure I'm not going into remission anytime soon, if at all… _everyday_ feels like a w_ar _that I'm fighting even though I feel like I should've found _my way_ – _my __**fortune**_ – a long time ago… but I likely won't; and meanwhile, _you _are going to _stay out of Hillwood _and _see the world _and _make a name for yourself _because _I believe in you too. _You will do all those things without me if you have to; _that's how much I love you._"

"You can't change the past, Sid," Nadine told him. "You only get one life and you shouldn't use it to dwell on what's already happened. All you – and I – can do is move forward and make the most of what life throws at us, no matter _what _happens."

"Life's too short to even care at all, isn't it?"

"Don't ever go back to _**not**__ caring about anything, _Sid. You still have a lot to live for," she said. "Why_ not_ live it up?" Nadine said. She squeezed her boyfriend's hand and added, "Life is _so short _and _so precious, _Sid. You only get one shot at it – to celebrate the good _and _learn from the bad. You don't have to stop living just because you have cancer."

"You're right," Sid affirmed. "I'm just scared about what's happening to me… and what's to come. I'm scared of _not __**knowing **_anything, but…" he took a deep breath and continued, "That didn't give me the right to push you away. I'm sorry about that, Nadine. I just wish things could go back to the way they were. When I first got sick, I just felt like my life beforehand – and being with you… that it was all too good to be true."

The young man looked back on his life – particularly the past four years – at that moment and realized how true that statement really was. Nadine pulled him away from a darkened abyss headed towards apathy and barely getting by; and when he _wasn't _caught amidst the trap of indifference, she steered him away from the extreme end of the spectrum that consisted of paranoia and feeling like everyone was watching his every move.

Before Nadine reentered his life, Sid spent his younger years trapped on the pendulum of life swinging between two extremes. He constantly put down others to build himself up and forced _them _to make _him _feel good, but Nadine never bought it. Instead of buying into it and letting him head down the path of destruction, the young woman saved Sid from himself.

And she would do so again, no matter what happened. She was everything Sid was searching for.

"You know, I found my fortune a while ago," he told her.

"What's that?"

"_You." _

He caressed Nadine's face, kissed her, and said, "It was _always __**you**_."

**XOXOXO**

The couple left the Day of the Dead festival earlier than expected, holding hands as Nadine finished her water and Sid dragged his oxygen tank behind him.

They reached the hotel shortly afterward, as it was within walking distance from the party. The two of them entered their hotel room, decorated in shades of florid and an off-colored gold. The architecture of the room took its inspiration from the Mexican gothic style of the past and Sid found it fitting considering where he and Nadine had just arrived.

She kissed the side of his head and asked, "What do you want to do, Sid?"

"Honestly? I just want to be with you. I don't want to miss a single moment."

"We could always do what I suggested earlier. We could _go to bed __**early,**_" she winked whilst trailing her finger up and down his chest.

"Um… we could do that," the young man said. He laughed awkwardly and added, "Have you seen what I have to wear to bed?"

He referred to his BiPap, which was an even bigger and bulkier contraption than his oxygen tank and cannula. It was a machine that helped him breathe easier at night, connected to a thick tube and mask that covered his face from the nose down. The BiPap was portable, so it sat on the end table plugged into the outlet to the right of the bed.

It would've burned a huge hole in the young man's pocket if his dad's older brother out in Monterey and his favorite aunt on his mom's side hadn't chipped in and offered to pay for the machine themselves. Sid's mother and father both bent over backwards working overtime and on weekends to pay for everything because while the radiotherapy was covered by their insurance, the oxygen tank, cannula, and chemotherapy were not.

He let out another laugh and said, "I'm more machine than human now."

"Sid, I don't care about that," his girlfriend told him. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm glad."

They sat on the bed together, lying down against the wine-red comforter. Sid pushed a lock of Nadine's blonde hair back behind her ear and kissed her. She followed suit and put a hand onto his chest, moving downward whilst her lips caressed his neck before descending down upon him.

**XOXOXO**

Light streamed through the window as Sid's eyes fluttered awake. The young man's entire face was covered with the breathing mask connected to his BiPap and his arm was around his girlfriend, who slept in the crook of her arm. Their legs were entwined with each other's and both her arms were splayed over him.

Nadine's eyes opened and she smiled at him.

Sid never felt more alive.

* * *

**Disclaimers:** I do not own the song "Cough Syrup" written by Sameer Gadhia, Jacob Tilley, Eric Cannata, Payam Doostzadeh, François Comtois (AKA Young The Giant) and Ehson Hashemian and performed by Young The Giant. No copyright infringement is intended or inferred.

Also, John Green's amazing book The Fault In Our Stars inspired some plot points here. No copyright infringement is intended or inferred.


End file.
